NO PASSPORT RACKETEERING IN FRANCE, SAYS FGN
Oru Leonard
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Saturday has said that the report of allegations of passport racketeering in Embassy of Nigeria in France is false.
The Ministry also refuted another allegation in the report that applicants pay between 150-500 Euros for passports that cost 90 Euros.
Responding to the allegations in a Press Statement, the Ministry spokesperson, Ferdinand Nwonye stated “for the record that the Embassy of Nigeria in France is not engaged in such act.
“The fees for passport applications, which is the equivalent of 106 USD, are the same at Nigerian Missions worldwide. The information on the current charges and official procedure for services at the Embassy are well publicised.” he added
According to Nwonye, Nigerians are expected to book for their appointments through this medium and only those with confirmed appointments are attended to.
He advised against dealing with anyone outside the Embassy or engage in any unofficial procedure when applying for passport or any other consular services as noting that the Embassy has not engaged any agent or third party individuals to liaise with Nigerians when seeking appointments for its services and no one is expected to pay any hidden charges for services rendered at the Embassy.
The statement encouraged Nigerians to book for passport appointments through the online windows of Foreign Missions, as it stated that only those with confirmed appointments will be attended to.
“It is pertinent to state that in the aftermath of the COVID-19 measures and the surge in the number of applicants who book for appointments, the Embassy currently has online passport applications bookings until the end of March, 2021, which are being treated expeditiously.” Nwonye concluded.
